Protecting
by sorcerousfang
Summary: I will be the one to kill him. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. I simply use the characters for entertainment.**

**I wasn't sure for a while if I would upload this or not, but after a few months of letting it sit, I decided it was done and I wasn't going anywhere else with it. Feel free to expand on the short scenario yourself. Call it an adoptable plot bunny.**

**Oh, and I apologize in advance.**

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><p>He knew there was no time for him to dodge it, not in the condition he was in, and to fend it off was probably overestimating his brother a fair bit more than was realistic.<p>

"_I will be the one to kill him."_

That right was his, and his only. Inuyasha was not worthy to die just yet, and Sesshomaru was not willing to accept a world without his ridiculous hanyou of a brother.

Perhaps, he thought as he threw himself between the attack and the whelp, he had long ago accepted the role of a brother, despite his resignations about it. Attached to the growing half-breed and the times he could surprise him.

_Attached._ Yes, that was the right word. He had become attached.

The impact against his sword quickly became much what he had expected, and pain followed not far behind. He had respected this opponent's strength, being able to keep up with both of them for so long, and it was well earned.

He heard his name over the roar of his own flaring aura, summoning up as much as he could to defend the both of them.

"_I have nothing to protect!"_

Those words ghosted through his mind, reminding him how ridiculous his actions were in comparison. He had been kidding himself when he had so proudly stated that, in defiance of his father's words. Of course he had things to protect; he was always one to speak with his actions, and he could not deny what he himself frequently did.

Words meant nothing to him. Perhaps Inuyasha was the same. No wonder they spoke much better with their swords.

He let out a deep roar in an effort to summon extra strength, and to battle down the pain that he had become unaccustomed to these days. It was not a frequent occurrence that he met someone much stronger than him, and to taste pain was both a thrill and somewhat unsettling in those battles.

Another roar, another push of his aura against the attack. It felt much longer than it must have been, and then silence suddenly surrounded the battle. He almost stumbled from the sudden absence of the force. He caught himself, but that was short-lived, as he quickly found himself exhausted. The clattering of his sword on the ground sounded incredibly distant for being right beside him, and he could not summon the will to care that he was falling quickly after it.

He could not move, feeling both numb and in pain at the same time – a strange combination he attributed to fact that he was probably losing consciousness. Red consumed his vision, until he focused enough to realize it was not a trick of the eye but Inuyasha, shouting something at him that he could no longer hear. For a moment, his vision was clear enough to catch the concerned expression on the hanyou's face.

Then his tired eyes drifted to the ground.

Red, stretching towards the red of his brother's robe.

"_Oh," _he realized slowly. _"Blood."_

He laughed to himself. Inuyasha? Concerned he was dying? Ridiculous.

He would make sure to tell him that.

Later, when he was less tired.

-/-

He realized quickly that he couldn't move from where he was now, and the enemy knew that. Of course that meant an attack was coming.

He wouldn't admit he was scared.

Really, he tried to move, as the bright energy moved toward him. Tessaiga was heavy, and so was the rest of his body. He was probably in a lot of danger. This attack would likely hurt.

A lot.

So he braced himself, expecting the pain, steeling his body for the impact and repeating that he would live, he would live, he would live…

Except that the impact never came.

He heard a grunt and felt the aura of someone else, and, realizing he had closed his eyes at some point, opened them to see the last scenario he expected to discover.

"Sesshomaru!"

But his voice was being drowned out by the roar of aura meeting aura.

"_You're in the way!"_

He suddenly recalled that brief exchange they had during that battle, and the shove that kept him out of harm's way, if only momentarily. He also remembered the sight of the full demon breathless, wounded, and weakened, because he had protected him.

Sesshomaru was protecting him.

Inuyasha could smell blood.

He struggled to his feet, summoning up strength to fight back, just as Sesshomaru seemed to summon more power. A roar from him sent a chill through his body; his brother was not one to use his voice much in battle, and hearing the effort behind his actions summed up in the voice of his true form was numbing.

_Effort_. He was struggling.

Another roar, another flare of power, and then suddenly everything was over. Silence reigned for a long moment, save one small sound.

_Plop, plop, _**Clang**.

The falling sword distracted him from the dripping blood, and Inuyasha finally found the strength to move when his brother's form quickly followed the path of his weapon. Fear and adrenaline, different from that summoned up for the battle, took control.

"Sesshomaru!" he shouted, kneeling to face him, bringing a hand to his shoulder but hesitating to touch him. He was hurt…his brother was hurt, badly, because he was on the ground and there was so much blood…

Why was there so much blood?

"You idiot!" he yelled at him when he couldn't think of anything else to say. "Why the hell did you do that?! Who asked you to protect me?! Sesshomaru!"

For a brief moment the eyes of the fallen demon seemed to focus on him, but that moment passed quickly. He could tell, the way his eyes were drifting down, the way they were quickly growing dull, he could tell he was losing him.

"Sesshomaru!" he shouted again. "Don't you dare die on me! You hear me?!"

A ghost of a smile was his response.

Then nothing.


End file.
